White oil has a wide range of applications and its output is gradually increasing

White oil, also known as mineral oil, paraffin oil, white oil, etc., is a white solid grease formed by deodorizing and decolorizing grease and then hydrogenating it to varying degrees. White oil is non-toxic and odorless, and has good chemical stability, oxidation stability, light stability and other advantages. According to different purity, white oil can be divided into high-grade white oil and low-grade white oil. Among them, high-grade white oil can be subdivided into food-grade white oil, medical-grade white oil, cosmetic-grade white oil, etc., while low-grade white oil mainly refers to industrial-grade white oil.

From the perspective of market segments, industrial-grade white oil accounts for the largest market share, accounting for 81.8%; followed by cosmetic-grade white oil, accounting for 12.1%; food-grade and medical-grade white oil rank third, with a combined market share of is 6.1%.

After years of development, my country’s white oil preparation technology has been basically mature and can be roughly divided into solvent extraction, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, hydrorefining, α-olefin polymerization, sulfonation, etc. Among them, the hydrorefining method has become the main production method for preparing white oil in my country due to its advantages such as high product yield, wide source of raw materials, high environmental friendliness, and continuous production.

From the perspective of application fields, white oil is mainly used to produce textile auxiliaries, lubricants, silicone glue, PS and other products, and is widely used in textile, medicine, chemical industry, food processing, cosmetics and other fields. Among them, textile auxiliaries have become the largest application field of white oil, accounting for 31.7%; followed by the PS field, accounting for 18.8%; silicone glue ranks third, accounting for 17.1%.

In the textile field, white oil, as a raw material developed earlier and with lower cost, is mostly used to produce various textile auxiliaries such as polyester FDY oil, man-made fiber oil, and polypropylene oil. In the pharmaceutical field, white oil is mostly used to produce foaming agents for antibiotics, penicillin and other drugs, and adhesives for tablets and capsules. It can also be used to produce medical consumables such as medical tape. Overall, the white oil consumer market is relatively broad.

According to the “China White Oil Industry Market Demand and Investment Planning Analysis Report 2023-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center, with the my country’s food, medicine, cosmetics, and textile markets are developing rapidly, and the market demand for white oil is gradually increasing. Against this background, my country’s white oil production capacity has gradually expanded and output has increased. In 2022, my country’s white oil production will be 1.7632 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.0%.

From the perspective of production capacity distribution, my country’s white oil producing areas are mainly distributed in East China, South China, North China, etc. Among them, East China has become the region with the largest white oil production capacity in my country, accounting for 48.7% of its production capacity.

Industry analysts said that there are a large number of companies in my country’s white oil market and the market concentration is low. The major white oil companies in my country include Bohui Petrochemical, Kaitai Petrochemical, Qinghe Petrochemical, Huanghe New Materials, etc. Among them, Bohui Shares has a larger market share, accounting for 17.5%. As China’s production capacity structure gradually upgrades, competition in the white oil market becomes more intense. Some companies with backward production technologies and smaller scales are gradually eliminated, and the market gradually concentrates on companies with technological advantages. The concentration of my country’s white oil market is expected to increase in the future.